Please release her NOW! How the Mob terrified the Hump into ending his fling with Sinatra's lover

Some things went without saying in Las Vegas showbusiness circles back in the Sixties.

‘Never steal Frank Sinatra’s girlfriend’ was one of the more obvious ones. Particularly if you came from England and had a silly name.

But prodigious womaniser Engelbert Humperdinck, who represented the UK in last night’s Eurovision Song Contest, simply ‘couldn’t help himself’, his former manager Tony Cartwright has revealed.

The affair came to an end only when Sinatra’s key lieutenant, Mob-linked Emenigildo ‘Jilly’ Rizzo, made his displeasure terrifyingly clear.

Femme Fatale: Engelbert Humperdinck was warned off Juliet Prowse, a dancer and actress

‘Eng could have had any girl he wanted – and quite frequently did – but he had to choose Sinatra’s girl,’ sighed Cartwright. ‘I can laugh about it now but at the time it wasn’t funny in the least. I was told to end it. It was pretty clear that if I didn’t sort it out they’d make me vanish or I’d get shot.’

Humperdinck, born plain Arnold George Dorsey in Leicester, began his fling with South African actress Juliet Prowse, once Sinatra’s fiancee, in 1967, after he had become friends with the Rat Pack.

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The singer had been invited to appear on Dean Martin’s hit US television show after his song Please Release Me had become a huge hit in Britain.

‘Engelbert hit it off with Dean, who delighted in calling him Humpy, much to the amusement of the audience,’ Cartwright recalled. ‘Hump was American slang for sex, so it was appropriate really.

Frank's girl: Frank Sinatra with Juliet Prowse in 1963, while they were engaged

Close: Tony Cartwright, centre, with 'Eng', right, and friend Alan Field in 1968

‘After the show Dean invited us to his restaurant. Dean was there with his agent Mort Viner and Frank Sinatra, who was with his girlfriend Juliet Prowse, and Jilly Rizzo. Engelbert and I were both terrified. Going to a fancy restaurant was a big deal for us in those days.

‘What made it worse was that during the meal I noticed that Juliet was staring at Engelbert. I could see she fancied him. I took him aside and whispered, “Whatever you do remember that’s Sinatra bird.” I thought that would put him off.’

Contender: Engelbert Humperdinck finished a disappointing 25th at last night's Eurovision song contest

Over dinner, Martin invited Humperdinck to open for him in Vegas. At the Riviera Hotel, Dean’s name was up in lights, but not Engelbert’s – because it was too long. ‘I went absolutely potty but there was nothing they could do,’ said Cartwright.

It was in Vegas that Humperdinck – who is said to have bedded 3,000 girls but jokingly tells fans to believe only half of what they read – embarked on his romance with Ms Prowse.

Cartwright, who admitted his former client’s Eurovision entry Love Will Set You Free ‘wasn’t up to much’, added: ‘Out of the blue one day I got a phone call from Jilly Rizzo who summoned me to his suite at Caesar’s Palace.

‘His tone of voice was icy. He told me that he knew about their affair, that it was a big problem, and that I had to end it immediately.

‘I raced back to the Riviera where Engelbert and Juliet were together, and banged on their door. I told them what had happened and Eng was as terrified as I was, although Juliet was more cool. I got her out the back of the hotel and the affair ended there and then. And luckily Sinatra never found out.

‘Even now, more than 40 years on, I find myself turning it over in my mind. I was terrified.’

ENGELBERT TOOK CARE OF BUSINESS - WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM THE KING

Engelbert Humperdinck wore a necklace given to him by Elvis Presley for luck in last night’s Eurovision Song Contest.

Presley gave Humperdinck the charm inscribed with the letters TCB – representing Presley’s slogan ‘Taking Care of Business’ – when the two singers became friends in the US.

It was a rare privilege. Humperdinck was one of only a handful of people from ‘the King’s’ circle of friends who were given such a gift.

The 76-year-old sang the ballad Love Will Set You Free when he opened the Eurovision contest at the Crystal Hall in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan.

‘The Hump’ – who has a strong fan base in Russia and Eastern Europe – was impressed with the contest. He said: ‘I never realised the magnitude of it . . . how big it was.’

He was hoping his performance would improve on the UK’s 11th placing last year when Blue performed I Can, but ended up a disappointing 25th - second last.

Britain has fared miserably in recent years. The UK’s last victory was in 1997 and it has come last three times in the past decade.